[Ditchleyportrait]

Let me offer my perspective after I finish typing this redundant introduction.

When I was an undergrad I didn't have a kindle, and I was reading Faulkner (Hell, Faulkner is still on pre-order for kindle, anyway, right?). I was obsessive about understanding each and every sentence he made. I would *very* occasionally correct the professor due to the way I knew each text, having labored over each sentence, combing the pages for meaning.

Anyway, I would address a dictionary so frequently that I probably added a good two hours onto the amount of time it would usually take me to read. I was very obsessive at that time about knowing each and every thing the writer said.

The kindle makes that obsession a heck of a lot easier to deal with. Now instead of opening a heavy, fat, leather bound, ink-speckled dictionary, I toggle the toggle or whatever.

I'm not as obsessive as I was with having to know every word, and occassionally the built-in dictionary can be time-consuming, but overall the convenience of saved time instead of having to flip through an actual dictionary is one of the best features of e-readers.

I remember when ereaders didn't come with the dictionary support, and people demanded it on here, of course, and I'm so glad it's a standard feature with the kindle, as well as other readers.

Sometimes you get an ebook that's poorly transcribed, so that inconvenience makes ebooks annoying.